Category Archives: Barack Obama

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Random Ramblings # 3

Hey World,

Whenever I don’t have a specific topic that I want to blog about, I opt to collect my thoughts on various issues that have captured my attention in the last few days or so…hopefully, my randon ramblings are enough to capture your attention…

1. First of all, as the world now knows, Harold Camping was wrong….the world did not end yesterday as he predicted…My question is: So are his followers going to church today? And I guess therein lies the problem, Camping should not have followers unless he is on Twitter. As his followers claim Christianity, the word of God should be their ultimate authority…as I said in my post last week about this topic, the Lord has not given us a specific date of the Rapture…That being said, a lot of people were hosting so-called Rapture parties this weekend and joked about looting the homes of people that would be raptured…I get the joke…but on the other hand, I have a feeling that many (not all) of these people make fun of regular Christians anyway, and Camping’s misguided prediction gave them a justifiable reason to unleash their latent and not-so-latent feelings about Christianity…

2. If you are a black woman in the United States, you have probably heard about the controversial posting that was quickly removed from Psychology Today’s website. The title of the posting was, “Why Are Black Women Rated Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women but Black Men Are Rated Better Looking Than Other Men?” Satoshi Kanazawa, the author of this study, attempted to his explain his findings by stating, “The only thing I can think of that might potentially explain the lower average level of physical attractiveness among black women is testosterone.  Africans on average have higher levels of testosterone than other races.” If you want more info, please go to The Root…I mean his statement brings back lonely memories of being the only black girl in my elementary school class…I felt sooo different and somehow “unpretty” as a result…Yesterday, I happened to be the only black woman running with my training group. There are other black women in the group, but they were absent for whatever reason yesterday…Anyway, as we were running in Sandy Springs, a group of white cyclists whizzed by us…Without warning, one of them said to another one, “Baby got back.” Now, if I had been in a black neighborhood, I would have taken it as a compliment. But it didn’t feel like one yesterday…R told me I should I have kicked his bike spokes…I mean what is Kanazawa thinking…Let me back on that…He could not have been thinking about how mean-spirited his words are…Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…everyone knows that…I did not like my shape as a child, but God gave me what many people try to get through surgery…

3. My line sister never let go of her dream of going to medical school although she has had some obstacles and challenges along the way. And today, she is graduating from medical school!!! I’m so proud of her, and later today, my line sisters and I will be there to cheer her on! Go Desert Rain (her line name)!!! You did that!!!

4. After having a conversation with a friend yesterday, I realized that I have taken the strength of single women for granted. And at the same time, I never realized about how good it can feel it to have that mate in your corner to support you…Without mates, my friends and I have managed to accomplish many things including: buying a home, climbing the corporate ladder, starting a business, etc….But I’m starting to take notice of how nice it is to have someone other than your parents to get feedback from about how your life can unfold as you pursue your purpose and dreams…With all that said, my main supporter and cheerleader is the Lord God Almighty! God is my source, and I thank Him for putting certain people in my life as resources…

5. I’m gonna miss Oprah…And I cannot believe I’ve never been to the show…I should have tried harder…Her show has been a true blessings to countless people…And her life has been a testimony to the strength, brilliance, power and beauty of black women…A true Shero among us…(Aside: It would have been nice to have been featured in her book club…)

6. I’ve always joked on St. Patty’s Day saying, “kiss me I’m black Irish!” … When I visited Stratford-upon-Avon (the birthplace of Shakespeare) years ago, I discovered that my last name is actually Scottish. There was a place there where you could look up your roots and what not…So anyway, since  Scottland and Ireland are so close together, I could have distant Irish cousins as well…I know, I know – it’s a long shot…But as it turns out, President Obama is actually “black Irish” as it has been proven that his mother’s side of the family are from there…He will actually be visiting his ancestral home on Monday, according to the BBC News…

7. The world may not have ended yesterday, but if our weird weather is any indication of when the Lord will return, it may not be that much longer…First of all, several months ago, the A was blanketed in snow, and then last week, we had three back-to-back cold days…So glad it’s going to be hot day…

So that’s all….

Any thoughts?

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Entering into the Promised Land…

Hello World!!!

It’s November y’all…2010 is on. its. way.out…I can’t even believe it…It seems like it was just last night that I went to Watch Night Service at my church. And the reason I bring that up is because the pastor spoke on Joshua and how finally he led his people into the Promised Land after they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years due to their own fear and disobedience…

What I got from his message is that it is my time to finally enter into the promised land…What does that mean for me? I cannot share all of that now, but someday I will. What I will tell you now is that I am no longer hoping, wishing & praying for my dreams to come true…Instead I am standing on His word and expecting my dreams to come to life right now. (I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13)

But the pastor did have a word of caution about entering into the promised land…Before God allowed Joshua and his people to enter in, they had some requirements to meet…below is what the Lord said to Joshua…

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9

I believe the Lord was telling me that if I will enter into my promised land, I must stay in the will of God and be strong, courageous, fearless and unshakable…So yes, the Lord’s promise to me is conditional…He promises, but I have to meet the conditions…

So all of this pondering on promises made and promises kept has me thinking of the elections yesterday…It seems that people are trying to punish President Obama for what they perceive as his unrealized promises of hope and change…And people are now attempting “to take their government back.” I’m no political pundit so I will save all of the thorough analysis for those that are, but I will say a few things from a spiritual point of view…No politician can ever perfectly keep all of his promises – even those that have promised to take their government back. The Bible has many references in which we are warned about lightly making promises because we human beings have a difficult time keeping them. At the end of the day, only God enables us to keep promises…I mean, we cannot even wake up in the morning without His permission…(See Matthew 5:36 and think on that…)

But back to President Obama and his promises of hope and change…I happen to be one that believes that he is diligently working to keep his promises, but we have conditions to meet on our end. He is not our savior and cannot accomplish miracles without our support. Are we supporting his policies with our votes? (I guess this line may be a day late and a dollar short)…Are we attending city council or school board meetings or otherwise taking part in our local government? (All politics begin at the local level.) Are we educating ourselves about the real issues that this country faces or are we latching on to catch phrases and acting like we know more than what we really do? Are we simply voting for a party because we always have instead of paying attention to the actual candidates? Are we praying for those in authority? (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

I must say as I inventory my actions based on these questions, I have a ways to go…

However, although the balance of power has shifted at a national level, I do believe that this shift did not take God by surprise. He is always working behind the scenes in the course of human history…I don’t know what the end result will be. But it seems to me that at the very least,  the opposing powers are now forced to work together and neither power can entirely lay the blame at the other’s feet.

Okay, let me get off my virtual political soapbox…

We are free to claim the promises of God, but let us not the ignore the conditions that must be met…Delight yourself in the Lord and THEN He will give you the desires of your heart…All things work together for good IF you love the Lord and are called according to His purpose…You will be saved IF you believe in the Lord…

Any thoughts?

P.S. I realize that I haven’t blogged in over a week, and I apologize…I hope I haven’t stayed away too long…I offer Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” as a peace offering…lol…love this song!

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Black History Post Obama…

Hello World!!!

You know I had to do it before the month was over…The obligatory Black History Month write-up…but since even Black History Month has become commercialized courtesy of corporations like McDonald’s (in actuality, I would rather it be commercialized than ignored…), I thought it would be apropos to turn over the Black History Month prism, if you will, and examine it from a different angle…

Let’s the start the conversation with this startling news that I ran across last week – The Epsilon Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpa, a white sorority, beat out members of the Divine Nine Black fraternities and sororities in the Sprite Step Off in Atlanta last weekend! The steppers won a whopping $100,000 prize…gotta love corporate sponsorship…since then, a scoring discrepancy has been revealed which may make the team co-winners with a chapter of the AKAs…(READ: Deltas are still the best…yeah, I said it…)

So what do y’all think about a white sorority even being allowed to step in a step show competition? Stepping is rooted in the illustrious history of the Divine 9 black fraternities and sororities which were formed because blacks were not allowed in white fraternities and sororities at colleges and universities throughout the nation…And although white fraternities and sororities seem to be organized for netorking and socialization purposes, black fraternities and sororities have had the added challenge of responding to the societal ills of racism, classism and poverty that disproportionately affected black people…Now since these black organizations were formed in the early part of the 20th century, much of this has changed…our first black president is evidence of this change (hope, change, yes, we can…you know the routine…just being funny.) But does this mean that white fraternities and sororities should be stepping in step show competitions? Apparently, the Epsilon chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha began stepping in the first place to take part in the University of Arkansas Unity Step Show 16 years ago…If Obama is president, maybe white girls can win a step show competition…

Some other news that piqued my interest…Rev. Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley were beefing last week in a way that sorta reminded me of the Booker T. Washington and the W.E.B. DuBois debate…(Shout out to Dr. Gloria Alibaruho who taught me about this debate in high school…) now, don’t get me wrong…The good Reverend and Mr. Smiley don’t compare to these black history giants…But apparently Smiley believes that President Obama is shortchanging black people by not focusing on our issues…And Rev. Sharpton believes that President Obama is everybody’s president and cannot focus on any one group to the exclusion of the other…There is a interesting commentary about the spat here….maybe in a post Obama world, black leaders don’t have to like each other and can nicely cuss each other out for the world to hear…

And while we’re on President Obama and Rev. Al Sharpton, I heard on Sharpton’s show last week that the president has signed an executive order to increase funding at historically black colleges…What if white students began flooding historically black colleges? I attended a historically white institution myself so I have no opinion really…(Actually I love my HWCU – Goooo dawgs!!!) I wonder whatever happened to Joshua Packwood, the first white valedictorian of Morehouse College in 2008…Actually, a quick Google search revealed that he is an analyst at Goldman Sachs…pretty darn good I must say… and cute to boot…(my young readers may want to get up on that!) In a post Obama world, maybe HBCUs can have white valedictorians? what y’all think?

Any thoughts?

To honor Black History Month, I will offer a memorable quote from someone in black history on each post I write this month…

“Everybody’s looking at you, thinking, ‘OK, they say you are the man. What have you got?” Kwatsi Alibaruho, NASA’s first black flight director and the son of my favorite high school teacher Dr. Alibaruho…You did that Dr. A! Congratulations!!!